


The Fiercest of Lions

by HolaImOla



Series: Good Omens Daemons AU [2]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Aziraphale Loves Crowley (Good Omens), Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Daemons, Drabble, Fluff, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), Ineffable Idiots (Good Omens), M/M, One Shot, POV Crowley (Good Omens), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, daemon AU, what else could I tag besides they're cute and stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25282309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolaImOla/pseuds/HolaImOla
Summary: The daemon of the very angel of the Eastern Gate might not seem very fitting at first glance- after all, why would a perfect creation of God be paired with a typical pet?It looks like the past of Mariam, the cutest little thing (and the daemon of Aziraphale!) wasn't as straightforward as the angel tries to make it look nowadays.((This is a second fic in my Daemon au series- technically you don't need to read the first one, as they're both disconnected drabbles but you could check it out mayhaps? :D))
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Good Omens Daemons AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831618
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	The Fiercest of Lions

**Author's Note:**

> I'm finally back at writing again! This fic was made for the #AngelWYD twtitter tag, where we love and appreciate Aziraphale <3  
> I should get back at updating Runespoor soon!! Thank you to everyone who has shown me support on here!!

Crowley hated the cold. It was one of those things he did _not_ like about the Earth. Rain, snow, or wind- just a mere thought of those made the demon shiver.

He was cold by nature, being, even in his human-shaped body, at least partially a serpent. It was one of those things he wasn't able to change in himself at all, just like he couldn't change his yellow eyes and their vertical pupils.

Right now he was rudely thrown into the middle of your typical London downpour. He originally left for what officially was " _doing his evil deeds_ " (and unofficially going around town to find that one book he heard Aziraphale dreamily sigh about _once_ ), and when he left it was still warm and sunny outside, with a few harmless white clouds going through the sky.

Well, it certainly wasn't like this when he was finished with said " _evil deeds_ " (when he eventually did manage to find the blessed book his angel wanted to get, that is). There was no trace of blue sky behind the heavy clouds, and heavy, cold rain, was pouring all around him. He walked angrily, stomping his feet into the puddles, wishing he'd gone by car earlier.

Eve, his daemon, shivered and hid inside his jacket for warmth- something she didn't normally do, as the preferred to have her own space. Her red eyes shined at him with a grudge, and he looked back at her with equal annoyance.

"Remind me again, why did we do thiss?" she hissed.

"Becaussse we love them and we're sstupid!" he hissed back, not being able to control his lisp. A few people glanced at them.

Despite Eve's protests, he stopped by Aziraphale's new favourite bakery and bought some of the prettiest looking cakes from the display on their way. He knew it would be worth it in the end. Probably.

Once they reached the bookshop, the downpour turned into a full-blown storm, with thunder and lightning all around them. At some point Eve actually shivered and hid her little head in Crowley's arm, something she knew he'd tease her about later. She wasn't the type of daemon to show her fear like this.

Crowley burst into the quiet room, loving the sudden feeling of warmth that coated his body. Thanks to some angelic intervention, if it wasn't for the soft sound of rain hitting the windows, there was no trace of a raging storm outside. Even the colours of the light were all beiges and yellows.

Seconds later Crowley found himself shivering again, as the warm interior didn't help for long when he was soaking wet. Eve jumped from his arms immediately and fell down, slithering on the ground.

"Is that you, dear?" He heard Aziraphale's voice form inside the shop. He didn't see him yet, though, only piles of books mounting for way higher than laws of physics could allow it, with a few lamps placed around the room. It all had a comforting effect on the demon, everything about the atmosphere seeming like the extension of Aziraphale himself.

"Yep. The one and only," Crowley muttered, feeling his teeth chatter with cold. "I got you a book. Was on sale. And some cakes."

Aziraphale finally came from behind a shelf, his daemon following him closely, as she tended to. Eve slithered over to her and the kitty nuzzled at her gently, licking the top of her head. The cat's human- well, angel- walked over to Crowley, taking the demon's hands in his.

"Oh, dear, you're freezing," he mumbled, putting the gifts on the table by their side.

"'m fine," Crowley grumbled back. He felt his cheeks flushing and blamed it on their daemons touching and cuddling each other, and not on his own reaction to Aziraphale's touch.

"Go to the living room. Now. And change into something warm, I'll bring you some tea." Aziraphale's tone made it clear he wasn't going to listen to any arguments. To be fair, it wasn't really like Crowley was in the mood to object, with his whole body shivering after spending so long in the rain.

With a snap of his fingers he changed his jacket into a fuzzy, oversized sweater (an outfit only Aziraphale was allowed to ever see him in) and let the angel lead him into the flat above the bookstore. It took almost no time for Aziraphale to wrap him in fluffy blankets and seat him on the couch, and despite what Crowley might have been grumbling as he did so, he did like the feeling.

"Mariam, please do keep both of them warm," Aziraphale instructed his daemon, who jumped onto Crowley's lap and purred loudly. Crowley took his hand and pet her head gently, trying to not overdo it- even though now they both did touch the other's daemon sometimes, it was still an intimate form of contact.

He heard Aziraphale sigh softly from the kitchen and the sound of water starting to heat in the kettle.

"You know," he started, his hand still resting right by Mariam. "I kinda wish she was a lion still. For now at least."

He was responded with silence.

Only after some moments Aziraphale laughed nervously.

"What are you talking about?" he finally asked.

"Lion. A mammal. Like dolphins." At this point Mariam closed her eyes and rolled to lay on her back. Eve, seemingly out of nowhere, crawled onto Crowley's lap and around the cat.

"Now, dear." Aziraphale poured the water into the cup. "Are you seriously not going to let the dolphins go? You know I was completely intoxicated."

Crowley rolled his eyes, but gladly took the hot tea from the angel once he came back to the living room. "Drunk words are sober thoughts," he said, taking a sip.

Aziraphale sighed and wrapped his arm around Crowley's shoulders, bringing him closer. The demon basked in his divine warmth, basically melting into his side. It didn't slip his notice that Aziraphale carefully changed the subject, not saying anything about the potential lion-ness of his daemon.

Crowley could have sworn he was right. Sure, maybe the current Mariam was just a fat, domesticated kitty that had soft fur and purred in his lap, but he had a very clear image of the angel of the Eastern Gate with a proud lion standing right beside him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Technically, ethereal creatures didn't _need_ daemons. Daemons were a concept utterly human, as the first only appeared after the first sin of Adam and Eve.

When angels were in Heaven, their soul tended to stay in one visible form. They were God's prefect invention, after all, and there was no need in trying to look any closer to the low beings inhabiting the Earth. Of course, when they did get down there, their soul conveniently manifested a daemon.

It was just a cover-up, really, just to not scare the humans.

At least, that's what Principality Aziraphale kept on telling himself when he first saw the snow-white lion appearing by his side in the garden of Eden. His daemon, Mariam, he realized, looked at him with calm, blue eyes, and Aziraphale gently stretched his arm to pet her mane.

He felt a hint of pride, knowing that a lion, no less, was chosen as his daemon. Barely seconds later, he, now feeling the guilt, realized it was obvious an angel would have had the king of animals as a representation of their soul.

Mariam stood silently, yet proudly by his side when for the first time in his whole existence he was approached by a demon, the Serpent of Eden himself. She stayed by him when the hellspawn finally left, and let the angel scratch her behind her ear as he pondered, what exactly had just happened to him.

She stayed with him for the next centuries, a strong presence that Aziraphale found himself getting used to. People often approached the mysterious man dressed in white robes with such a regal daemon accompanying him, almost as if they felt the heavenly power coming from him.

But, things started to change. It was a slow and gradual process, that took thousands of years to complete, but it quite shifted a lot of things in Aziraphale's closest surroundings.

He was the first one to notice it. Of course he was. This was the kind of thing one can hide, at least for some time, from the outside world, use different excuses to people, but they're bound to see it themselves.

It started with Mariam's mane. As time went on, it started to shrink. Like stated before, it wasn't too noticeable at first- until it was, and the lion didn't really resemble the king of animals anymore.

Then the whole being of Mariam shifted. She became smaller, more jumpy, her slick, short fur turned into a warm, fluffy coat. Her tail wouldn't stop nervously waving around and her pale blue eyes stared around her surroundings in constant fear. She also stayed much closer to Aziraphale than she would before, getting as far as even crawling in his lap whenever he sat down.

Aziraphale wouldn't dare to admit it, but he knew her changes weren't unprompted. Earth has changed him, whether it was for better or worse. He both felt himself getting more comfortable down here, while just a thought of Heaven made him that much more anxious. He tried telling himself it was a temporary shake-up, but truth be told, those feelings only deepened with time.

When he had eventually ran into Crowley once again (it was Rome, he remembered) Mariam lost any resemblance to a lion and fully became an actual cat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To say Aziraphale's daemon had changed was as if to say that Crowley's daemon was a bit resembling a snake.

At first Crowley thought the angel just forgot about having his animal companion, but the humans were way too calm for something like that. Then, after looking around, and feeling Eve share the same feeling of confusion as he did, he noticed a ball of fluff around Aziraphale's ankles.

A cat.

It had to be his daemon, right? But it couldn't be.

Eve, who rested on the tabletop in front of Crowley earlier, jumped to the floor and slithered towards the white, small kitty while Crowley and Aziraphale talked. Said kitty shuddered and hid behind Aziraphale's legs in fear, before jumping up onto the angel's lap. Aziraphale, instinctively, almost as if he hadn't noticed the action, brought his hands and put them around Mariam, as if he was protecting her- all while he was still in the middle of a conversation with Crowley.

The angel's daemon had changed. That could only mean one thing- the angel himself has changed as well. Crowley watched the pair behind his sunglasses carefully, throughout their whole conversation, the walk to the place with "remarkable oysters", as Aziraphale put it, and once they actually seated themselves at the place. Eve once again tried to get closer to the cat, but the animal only responded with a hiss.

Aziraphale shuddered and looked down before taking the kitty in his arms again.

"Mariam, dearest," he mumbled. "Is everything alright?" He looked genuinely worried, with his eyebrows furrowed, making wrinkles appear on his forehead.

Crowley stared at him. The once proud Guardian of the Eastern Gate sat on his stool, clutching a small, fluffy cat in his arms and asking if it were okay.

Truly some changes had to have happened.

"Well," Aziraphale looked up after finally calming down his daemon. "Shall we order?"

Crowley blinked a few times and nodded, but the thoughts of an actual angel from Heaven changing, not by any temptation, but his own merits, haven't left his head. And right now, he wasn't even sure if it was a bad thing.

He'd have to wait and see.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took Crowley a while to finally warm himself up again, and it would probably take much more if it weren't for Aziraphale nearby.

The angel stayed next to him for what seemed like hours, with his arms wrapped around the demon's waist as Crowley snuggled to his side. They didn't talk much, and even in what little did they talk, neither of them mentioned anything about any lions. Aziraphale just rested his chin on the top of Crowley's head while reading some of his books, letting out quiet hums of agreement when Crowley asked him trivial things.

Eventually he did set his book on the table next to them and changed his position to lay down on the sofa, while still holding Crowley close. Crowley didn't mind, he put his head on Aziraphale's chest, feeling his eyelids get heavy now that the warmth turned into tiredness. Mariam laid stretched next to Aziraphale, with Eve curling somewhere near her.

Crowley yawned, and was already falling asleep, when Aziraphale's voice rang through the silence.

"Crowley... Are you really disappointed that us- that me-" he took a breath. "That Mariam isn't a lion anymore?"

Crowley blinked a few times and glanced up at him.

"What?" he asked, and after a pause, added. "So I _was_ right earlier?"

Aziraphale only stared back at him, not saying anything, his expression serious.

" _Angel_ ," Crowley sighed. "Why would I ever be disappointed in you?"

Aziraphale took a moment to respond. "Because we- _I_ changed?"

"And? I change all the time."

"It's not the same," Aziraphale huffed. "Eve stays similar."

"I wouldn't want you any other way, angel." Crowley closed his eyes and hugged him tighter. "I love you like this. True to yourself. Comfortable. All the good things."

Aziraphale stayed silent, but he brought his hand to Crowley's head and started playing with his hair.

"I meant this, angel," Crowley mumbled, his voice muffled as his face was pressed to Aziraphale's chest now. "I love you."

This time he got a reaction, Aziraphale breathed in a little faster, something between a sigh and a laugh.

"I love you too, dear." The angel planted a little kiss on the top of his head. Crowley considered his mission done and he drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Currently I'm most active on Twitter where I'm @/catsreverywhere , feel free to follow me for some updates (and shitposting <3)


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